New York Times Photographer "Beaten Up" By NYPD

NYT photographer Robert Stolarik was roughed up and arrested by NYPD officers while on assignment on Saturday night. This is just the latest in a series of conflicts between the NYPD and New York TImes journalists, including several arrests and four NYT letters of protest.

Robert Stolarik, a photographer for the New York Times, was arrested on Saturday night while on assignment in the Bronx. The New York Times has now written to the NYPD about their treatment of Mr. Stolarik three times since December.

According to a Gawker report, Stolarik was covering the NYPD's Stop-And-Frisk policy when he began photographing a teenage girl being arrested. An officer ordered him to stop taking pictures, which he refused to do. Then, "a second officer appeared, grabbed his
camera and "slammed" it into his face...[Stolarik] said that he was kicked in the back and that he received scrapes and bruises to his arms, legs and face."

UPDATE: Stolarik Says He Was "Beaten Up", Lost $20,000 In Equipment

In an interview with New York Magazine, Stolarik said "it feels like I have broken bones and internal injuries." He is currently missing $20,000 in equipment taken by the NYPD, which prevents him from returning to work.

The National Press Photographers Association has written to the NYPD requesting an investigation of Stolarik's treatment, as well as the immediate return of his credentials and equipment (via @Poynter):

Mayor Bloomberg Weighs In

Mayor Bloomberg was asked about the incident at a press Q&A: "Nobody goes after reporters...police officers cannot operate if
every reporter and every photographer is allowed into every situation...and I just don't know in this case what the facts were."

Mr. Stolarik was tackled and handcuffed while photographing a march during the 2004 Republican National Convention. According to the article, "Stolarik and six other news photographers, in separate
interviews with The Villager, accused police of overly aggressive
treatment."

December 12th, 2011: Officers Push Stolarik, Block His Lens

On December 12, 2011, while covering an Occupy Wall Street protest, photographer Robert Stolarik was repeatedly pushed by several NYPD officers (2:00) and interfered with by one officer in particular, who repeatedly stepped in the way of Mr. Stolarik's shot and then lied about it (2:55):

Stolarik told the New York Observer, “they said they were ‘looking into disciplinary measures’ for one of the
officers. But I don’t know which officer…if it was the one who pushed
me down the stairs, the one who backed me up with a baton, or the one
who blocked all my shots."